Home is where the Art is | Art, Photography, and Fashion

My name is Venita, I go by Veezy Vibetime and I am an aspiring graphic designer. I’ve been into art since I was a child and have done designs since I was 15. Never in all of the times I’ve been doing this have I been suddenly afraid. Recently, another aspiring artist reached out to me on Instagram, admiring my work, asking for tips and where my inspiration comes from. Then brought up a very controversial topic. She explained to me how afraid she was of coming out of her shell because the idea of copyright infringement, worrying that what she’ll do will copy something else. Honestly, this instilled a lot of fear in me as well. I search domains and online for a lot of my photo inspiration for designs as some of you see in my post explaining the processes. So that makes me wonder, “Am I breaking the law for doing what I love?” It breaks my heart to know that is even a possibility. I’ve had professionals who have been in the game forever and would probably know more than me about this topic tell me how inspiring I am, as well as fellow artists trying to create their paths as I have been trying myself. What if all of that could be in vain? That would crush me. I’ve spent probably the last day scared and worried that my stuff could be breaking the law and I not even know it. No I don’t promote negativity or bad messages with my art, and I also don’t make profit, but still, I guess that I get a little worried that one day I’ll be told to take all of my stuff down, or be told I’m being sued. I have yet to see a case get serious or even a deal get big from the subject of copyrighting. Then again, anything is possible and that’s the scariest thing of all. From all I’ve read so far, there’s so many loopholes in the world of art and it’s such a stress. I’m passionate about making a difference, showing my talents, and affecting people positively. It’s almost like there’s rules to being yourself. I can’t be too alarmed though because I know that this is what I signed up for, especially with the love that I have for my artwork and art itself. Currently I’m somewhere between wondering I should stop everything I’m doing to keep myself safe and continuing to be the best artist I know how to be, create my designs, trying to represent who I am creatively as an individual, and doing what makes me happy. Seems like there’s danger zones even in the safest of havens. I apologize for this not being a post relating to a design I’ve done. This has just been heavy on my mind and I wanted to be honest with you all and show that even the girl behind the designs has her trying days. I feel like I wouldn’t be real if I wasn’t being honest. Tell me, can any of you relate to this issue? Have you ever been afraid over this? Please share your experiences and stories with me in the comment section.

One thought on “Behind the Art.”

Copyright is a tricky subject. For most things, there are copyright-free images which can be used without worry. There are plenty of websites out there that are dedicated to them. A lot of your work requires much more specific images though, right? There are lots of questions here, like where are the images from, who owns the original images, how happy they are for the images to be re-used, and how you actually use them.

The good news is that there is such a thing as ‘fair use’. Fair use usually means work can be used for educational purposes, for review or for parodies, however it more refers to the use of the artwork being used in a way which is in no way directly making you money, competing with the original owner’s work or claiming ownership. As long as the work you create is used for personal use only, and you do not sell any of it on, you should be okay.

If you want to be extra safe however, there are a number of things you can do. If possible, try and find images which are copyright free. If this isn’t possible, consider asking the original owner permission to use the image for non-commercial use. If you can’t get in contact, I would add a note by your image acknowledging who the original image is owned by. If anyone claims you are breaching their copyright, take the work they claim to own down immediately, and then explain that it was just personal work out of appreciation. It’s highly unlikely anyone will take action against you if you communicate with them. Only put the work back up if they then give you permission. Realistically I can’t imagine you would have any problems, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.